Mystery Snail Shell Help

I bought 2 mystery snails today, but one of them has these uniform ridges in its shell, at first i thought one had a crack but then i realized it was a straight break from one side to the other and there were about 4 of them throughout its shell. I can get a pic later but was curious if these could be cracks or just abnormal shell growth? Also, the other snails shell has green growth in the grooves on the top of his shell, is there anything i can do? Maybe get a soft tooth brush? Since its ivory its pretty noticeable and an eye sore. I considered taking 1 or both back but they are already cruising around my aquarium eating algae wafers, when they were at the store they were just stuck to the glass doing nothing :/

If the snail was knocked into something, it could be a crack. It could also just be abnormal shell growth. Pic would definitely be helpful.

To my knowledge (though I haven't personally tried) you should be able to use the toothbrush, just be very careful with it. Could also just leave it as the other snail may decide to help clean up the shell or do a few days of lights out, just like you would if you were trying to clean up an algae breakout in the tank.

Ime, ridges like that (either with a color difference, or more raised in places) are usually just growth lines, and if that's the case there's nothing you can do for them. Since their shells reflect how good their diets were at the time of growth, the amount of calcium provided and how quickly they grew, it's really very common to have ridges or lines on their shells which are super noticeable on ivorys in particular.

The green growth is likely just algae, it will likely be munched off by the other snails in time. If it bothers you that much, a VERY soft bristled toothbrush may be just the thing.

Ime, ridges like that (either with a color difference, or more raised in places) are usually just growth lines, and if that's the case there's nothing you can do for them. Since their shells reflect how good their diets were at the time of growth, the amount of calcium provided and how quickly they grew, it's really very common to have ridges or lines on their shells which are super noticeable on ivorys in particular.

The green growth is likely just algae, it will likely be munched off by the other snails in time. If it bothers you that much, a VERY soft bristled toothbrush may be just the thing.

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Im returning the ivory for the one i originally picked last night, after watching him i see that his shell is wobbly when he crawls. Im not too knowledgeable about snails but i read that it could mean he was poorly handled, and could be torn from his shell which it did sort of look that way, like he was going to fall right out of the shell.

My black one is nice and active, i dropped some cuttle bone in the tank but its floating, i guess it takes a couple days to water log. The lip of his shell is very transparent and i didn't notice until i looked at him in better lighting. But I'm keeping him imageimage

You can stick part of the cuttlebone under a rock to hold it down. Mine took at least a week or so to sink but they get also through the dissolved minerals in the water from the cuttlebone so it is still working. Alison

You can stick part of the cuttlebone under a rock to hold it down. Mine took at least a week or so to sink but they get also through the dissolved minerals in the water from the cuttlebone so it is still working. Alison

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Well the piece i threw in is just a small piece, i thought of burying half a bone but dont know if it's too much. I have 2 snails in a 30 gal and 2 in a 10 gal.

I have half sitting in each of my 10s, and only bothered to do that instead of a whole one because it was already broken in the package...

Your little black one just looks like some irregular shell growth to me, probably from lower than ideal calcium during the time that part of the shell was developing.

The very front edge of the shell will usually be a little thinner than the rest of it. Basically, the outer portion grows then the inside builds up, so new growth will usually look a little thinner until it's fully developed.

That's from them growing! They grow in a swirl shape so if they chip the edge of their shell or something changes in the environment at that time the new she'll creates a line there. It's like those were the previous edges. The newest part looks the healthiest meaning your taking better care of them than the store was. Besides cosmetically those don't matter. Unless they get a crack that exposes their body to the outside it is safe. I call mine "growing lines" over time they lighten my snails the biggest line is when I got them because it's like the marker of where their environment changed and their shell started developing better. After being in there with good care and water conditions they won't make more lines. image

That's from them growing! They grow in a swirl shape so if they chip the edge of their shell or something changes in the environment at that time the new she'll creates a line there. It's like those were the previous edges. The newest part looks the healthiest meaning your taking better care of them than the store was. Besides cosmetically those don't matter. Unless they get a crack that exposes their body to the outside it is safe. I call mine "growing lines" over time they lighten my snails the biggest line is when I got them because it's like the marker of where their environment changed and their shell started developing better. After being in there with good care and water conditions they won't make more lines. image

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image here they are, I'm trying to entice them with algae
image had to share this one because my molly photo bombed lol

I would personally keep your ivory, the wobbly thing isn't necessarily a damage issue. If his body was detached, it would be really obvious. Some just wiggle funny when they walk ime, or he could possibly have a little air bubble in his shell, which causes kind of a drunken wobble sometimes. He looks to be eating, so that's a good sign

I would personally keep your ivory, the wobbly thing isn't necessarily a damage issue. If his body was detached, it would be really obvious. Some just wiggle funny when they walk ime, or he could possibly have a little air bubble in his shell, which causes kind of a drunken wobble sometimes. He looks to be eating, so that's a good sign

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The ivory in the recent pic is a different one. I ended up swapping for a bigger one. But i do have 2 other snails in a 10 gallon that are healthy and i saw the blue shell doing the same wobble walk last night. So you're probably right.

It could be any color because of genetics but likely most if not all will look like the dark on and the babies will all have dark foot.

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I have a male golden, a male blue, a male black, and the ivory is unknown at the moment. Gold and blue are not in this tank. It would be neat to have babies, I would probably keep the least common colored babies to raise and breed when the time is right (to keep the snail generation going once my current snails pass away ) but I would still have to figure out what to do with the 99 other babies lol.

I tried to find a local fish club but idk if anyone would want free snails. Maybe I could sell on craigslist.

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